pat testing

[paulthe spark]

was thinking about setting up my own little pat testing business as work is getting slower and slower but don't really know too much about it. Ive heard it gets boring but i think i can deal wae that. Is it just a case of doing a PAT testing course, buy a PAT tester and away a go? What kinda prices would you expect to charge? What kind of businesses would you target? any advice would be much appreciated chaps , ive just been thinkin of ways to get the cash in and ive arrived at this. Good idea? bad idea? i dont really know thanks again

 

[lewlec]

hi paul

we had the same idea so my wife decided she wanted to do the pat testing. We then bought the tester and the training all above board. we have had the tester about twelve months now and it hasnt payed for its self yet.what we found was the big places like hotels and offices had their own testers. most of our work has been holiday cottages, good to offer the service but i personally havnt seen the return. hope i havnt been too negative but its a lot of money to splash out on. but im sure if you get the work it could be quite profitable we charge £3 per appliance. also i dont think the public are really aware of pat testing.

hope this helps

cheers

 

[paulthe spark]

public probably won't be aware of it but businesses will have to by law i would imagine. I hear what your saying ill probably have to do a bit of research first, put the feelers out see what kind of response i get before i splash out all that money on the machine

 

[lewlec]

ye good idea.
we live in a rural area but i suppose if your work is in the city theres much more buisneses to target. e.g salons, caffes and resturants.

 

[mikeymoo]

were i live a company is charging 70p per item!!
From speaking to other pat testers around the country its just not worth it.
Either companies do it in house or other testers are doing it for peanuts.

 

[paulthe spark]

think ill need to think of another little earner ha

 

[bazza2541]

were i live a company is charging 70p per item!!
From speaking to other pat testers around the country its just not worth it.
Either companies do it in house or other testers are doing it for peanuts.

Big outfits charging those prices generally have some other way to cover their costs. Such as a call out fee or a minimum number of tests.

 

[cambria]

Not a very cost effective business, too competitive people undercutting each other and doing it for a pittance. When you think about it the visual check has to be done including openning the plug then the tests have to be done which admiitedley are quick but then you've got to fork out for labels write the labels fill out a record sheet which all takes time and for an average of £1 !!!

 

[jimmyjazz]

I have found it useful when offfering PATs as part of a service to letting agents. Do fixed prices for periodic & PAT, following year pick up PAT again & arrange to do a block of them over 1 or 2 days.

 

[paulthe spark]

when you put it that way not really worth it is it

 

[bazza2541]

Not what I wanted to hear, I just forked out for a Seaward Supernova, label printer and bar code reader.

 

[Guest123]

Thems the dogs dangley bits when it comes to Pat Testing.

 

[bazza2541]

Seems to be a right good bit of kit alright. Reinventing myself as bPAT, hoping to ride out the recession ar it. PAT is not wild common in the Republic yet, so I'll be doing a fair bit of border hopping to get started.
Fingers crossed and heres hoping............

 

[darking]

Rethink your marketing stragety. I charge a daily rate servicing small industrial companies and they understand the need for testing and pay my rate without questeion. Since I am also a qualified installation inspector I do their installation testing as well

 

[72-van]

Get rich quick ...not .

sore on your body ...yes

seward supernova kit ...excellent

daily rate maybe the way to go forward..

really hard to find good clients who will pay on time and not cry their wee eyes oot when you tell them it cant possibly be done single handed in a day ... despite it being done in 3 hours for or five times before..

72-van

 

[james.cumming]

Think of Pat testing as pocket money. Most shops, small offices and hmo flats you are lucky if you have 30 items. I charge £60 for the first 30 items and £1.50 per item after that. Minor repairs included. Building site are the best test every 3 months and the 110V leads get trashed. Good money in repairing them and replacing crushed plug tops etc.

 

[expo09]

It really depends on what type of business you think you can attract. A lot of people aren't aware of PAT testing so it's not as though every business is using PAT testing services. To make a decent profit you need to be targeting larger organisations, such as large businesses or schools. Then you can test a large number of appliances at once and charge more.

 

[sparks_114]

I think the PAT industry is as good as dead with the likes of 70p an appliance test offers. My take on it is this: I would do PAT in the way of offering a complete service to my clients. If you have a customer base it might be that one day they'll ask you to carry out PAT and if you refused it may be that they will get someone else to carry out the PAT, and who also do everything else too. So look at as providing your clients with a complete service, which in the long run will increase earnings, as opposed to the PAT actually making you any real money. Also, can you all stop saying PAT testing! Portable Appliance Testing Testing?! Hope I am allowed to be pedantic. Cheers